


The Snowball Effect

by PurrtlePuff



Series: The BROARMY Police Force AU [2]
Category: Youtube RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Gen, So there might be mistakes, i only have basic first aid training, i swear i researched to the best of my ability though, i'm also not a nurse or doctor, i'm not a physics teacher thank god, it's pretty much my excuse to make a bunch of youtubers special agents in my own little world, possible physics mistakes as well, rated M for violence, well kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 12:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7170215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurrtlePuff/pseuds/PurrtlePuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be an easy mission. Mark has no idea how he ended up on a frozen lake, which is cracking more than his voice, and struggling to survive. </p><p>The mission was simple: find Danny and get the heck out of there. He wasn't even supposed to be mixed up in a drug lord battle. But here he was. Oh, and the ice just broke-</p><p>Jack, Bob, and Wade, you better hurry up, or you're going to end up with a Popsicle for a team leader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Snowball Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Whoa hey, it's been a while since I wrote anything for this universe. Actually, I wrote this a while ago, and I never posted it. Weird, right? 
> 
> Thing is, I've been tweaking it for months now. I finally got it to where I like it, so I hope you enjoy it as well.
> 
> And in case you missed it, there is blood and gore mentioned in this. I tried to keep it pretty brief, but it's still there. Please read carefully.

It started off simple enough. Team G lost a member somewhere in the outlying forest, and Mark accompanied them. Not at their request, but more so for personal reasons. 

“Danny risked his life for me.”

“Mark, Team Grump can handle this. They assured me the enemy is still near the woods. Besides, I need you here in case things go south.”

“I owe him, Felix. Please.”

Felix rubbed his temples and sighed. “Fine. Just don't die.”

Mark snuffed. “It's just a search and rescue mission.”

It's amazing how fast a simple S&R with Team G turned out to be Mark’s worst nightmare. He swallowed sandpaper and pulled his coat closer to his body. The snow stung his face. If he didn't find shelter soon, they'd be writing Frozen jokes on his tombstone. 

Mark trudged down a steep slope and did his best to not slip. His foot skidded at least twice, but he regained his balance. The third time, however, sent him on his ass. Mark yelped as he slid down; snow shot up between his coat and his back. He slid a few more feet past the end of the snow bank and skidded to a halt. 

Mark stared up at the dark sky as his heart pounded. He propped himself up by his elbows and scanned the area. Must've landed in the middle of a meadow with how open it was. He rolled onto his knees and stood up. 

Crack. 

Mark looked down at his feet. A spider web of ice formed under him. This wasn't a meadow. A new fear quickened his heart. Mark kneeled down on the ice and crawled. The ice groaned under his weight, and he paused. His breathing hitched as the ice cracked.

Shit.

He backed up a little and went around the spot. The ice creaked, and he quickened his pace. Mark couldn’t tell where the lake ended and the ground began. He looked up for a moment, and his hand crashed through the ice. 

Mark yelped and jumped backward. He lost his balance as his right foot broke through the ice. The water soaked his pants and numbed his leg. He pulled it back as the ice underneath his other foot splintered.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Mark took in a deep breath as the ice broke apart. The cold water hit his gut the hardest, and he lost all the air in his lungs. Don’t breathe, don’t breathe! He didn’t dare open his eyes. Mark clawed at the ice above him. Each piece broke off as he grabbed it. 

Despite his initial instinct, Mark opened his eyes. The hole he fell in contrasted with the ice, and he swam upwards. He grabbed on to the edge of the ice and pulled himself up. 

Mark sucked in a deep breath of air. His arms rested on the edge of the ice, and he lay his head on his shoulder. Mark caught his breath as his coat drained of water. Thankfully he had training on what to do if he fell into icy waters. However, there was always someone there to help him if he needed it.

If he didn’t get out of the water soon, his muscles would freeze up. Mark pulled himself up and pulled his stomach on the ice. He rested his head for a moment before rolling one leg up on the ice. The other followed soon after.

Freedom.

For a moment, Mark lay on the ice. He knew he should’ve crawled to safety, but his muscles were locking up. Damn it, he stayed in the water too long. The shivers overtook his body for a brief moment or two, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Mark grit his teeth.

This was it.

 

Ringing from Felix’s phone woke him. He sat up from his desk and pulled a stuck paper from his cheek. Had he fallen asleep at his desk again?

Another ring.

“This better be important.” Felix groaned as he picked up the phone. Static assaulted his ear.

“Captain Kjellberg… been compromised.”

Felix held his breath and pressed the phone closer to his ear. “Suzy, what happened?”

“We were searching the woods.... Danny. We thought the area was safe… it wasn’t. Ross… shot, but he’s stable. We got separated from Mark. No sign… them anywhere.”

Felix cursed and ran a hand through his hair. “How long have you been separated?”

“Four hours.”

“And the enemy?”

“20 of them... could be more.”

“Is everyone else safe?”

“Yes. Arin, Ross, and I... a hollowed out tree… reception stinks.”

“Good. Stay there. I’m sending back up as soon as I can.” Felix hung up the phone and rubbed his temples. Of course things would go wrong. First Danny and Barry. Now Ross and Mark. If this snowball didn’t soon stop rolling, he’d run out of agents by this weekend. 

Felix scanned the contacts from his team list and hoped Team D didn’t mind 3 am calls.

 

Marshmallows. 

Of all the things Mark thought the afterlife would smell like, toasted marshmallows was far on the list. The warmth of a fire pierced the ice on his skin. He wanted to open his eyes, but they were so heavy. A faint hum caught his interest. 

Mark opened his lips to speak but only squeaked out a groan. 

“Good, you’re alive. I thought for a minute I didn’t make it in time.”

Danny. 

A hand rested on Mark’s forehead. Mark wanted to speak, to ask questions, but his voice had a different opinion. He tried to move his arms but found them secured to his sides.

“I have you wrapped in a shit ton of blankets, dude. You’re not going anywhere.” Mark listened as Danny walked away and came back again. “I found some coffee in one of the cupboards. It should help you warm up.”

Mark tried to swallow. “Where?”

“I found an abandoned cabin. Looks like hunters use this place, but they’re not here at the moment. I’ve been here for the past day or two, ever since those losers tracked us and separated me from my team.”

Mark felt his voice return a bit. “If this place turns into a bad horror movie-”

Danny lightly laughed. Mark felt his body shift into a sitting position. His eyes opened a little. Firelight blinded him, and he squeezed his eyes shut again. He tried again a few seconds later and blinked his eyes to adjust them. 

His body must have been covered in 6 different blankets, all of varying thickness. His coat and clothes dried over the fireplace, and he felt his skin grow hot. Danny propped Mark’s back against a couch and sat cross legged beside him. 

Mark turned his head and noticed Danny wore nothing but a white undershirt and boxers. He shrugged some of the blankets off and freed his arms. He was wearing Danny’s clothes.

“I know they’re too big, but I had to get those wet clothes off of you. I looked through all the closets, but they’re empty. With how cold you were, I didn’t even know if covering you up would work. I don't’ know how long you were in the snow before I found you. What were you doing out there anyway?”

Mark snuffed. “Looking for you.” Danny offered Mark coffee. Mark brought the liquid to his lips and took small sips at a time.

“Did you see the rest of my team? Are they okay?” Danny asked and chewed at his lip. “I heard gunshots earlier.”

Mark placed the coffee in his lap. “Ross got shot.” He heard Danny take a breath beside him. “I don’t think it was serious. Grazed his right side. Arin was taking care of him the last I saw. Suzy and I took off to try and distract those sons of bitches, but we got separated too.”

“So my whole team is out there in the cold somewhere, who knows whether alive or dead, and the enemy is still in the woods.” Danny deflated. Mark wracked his brain to change the subject.

“Who are these people anyway?” 

“We were busting a drug lord. We traced his lair all the way out here, but we didn’t expect them to be waiting for us.”

“That’s why you stayed behind.”

“It was either one of us goes down, or we all went down.” Danny swallowed thickly. “And with Barry hurt…”

Mark put a hand on Danny’s knee. “You did the right thing. Barry’s fine. He’s in critical care, but alive.”

All the air left Danny’s lungs as he rested his head on folded hands. A broken laugh passed his lips, and he muttered something under his breath. Mark filled the space with a long gulp of coffee and wrinkled his nose. 

“So why didn’t you call the team to tell them you were okay?”

“No cell service. Besides, the smoke from the chimney will tell someone where we are.”

“Yeah, but it could be the wrong people.”

“Either way, we won’t be alone for very long.”

 

“Fucking snow.” Jack pushed himself up for the third time and left a perfect face plant impression. Bob offered Jack a hand up, and Jack took it after brushing off the last two times. He heard Wade snickering in the background and grumbled. 

“Let it go, Jack.”

“You did not seriously make a Disney pun right now. I will not talk to you for the rest of the mission.”

Wade shrugged his shoulders. “The cold shoulder never bothered me anyway.”

Bob shook his head and looked down at the coordinates Suzy sent out. “They should be a mile due north of us. If we hurry, we can get there in about an hour.”

“Not if Jack keeps trying to make snow angels.”

“Go fuck yourself, Wade.”

“Will you two stop? The drug lord goons will find us before we find anyone at this rate.”

Bob took the lead as the other two trailed behind. The wind picked up and blew the snow over their fresh laid footprints. Jack shuddered and pulled his coat closer to his nose. The trio kept walking, even though every tree looked the same and they appeared to walk in circles.

Bob stopped in his tracks, and Jack nearly bumped into his back, earning a chuckle from Wade. Before Jack could open his mouth, Bob put a hand up and silenced him.

“I heard a gun click,” he whispered. Wade’s hand went to his side and rested on his pistol. The three pressed up against separate trees and kept their eyes open. The whole forest held its breath.

“Bob?”

Bob looked around the clearing as Suzy peered around one of the trees. She put the gun back in her holster and came out into full view.

She smiled. “It’s nice to see some friendly familiar faces.”

“Are the others with you?”

“Arin and Ross are. No sign of Danny or Mark anywhere. Of course, we’ve stayed in the same spot until you guys caught up with us. They could be anywhere in these woods though.” She looked like she wanted to say more but pursed her lips.

Arin’s voice echoed from behind the tree, and Suzy turned in its direction. She walked away, and the three boys all exchanged expressions before following.

“Are you kidding? You’re nowhere near ready to move.”

“I’m already shot. What else can they do?”

“Oh I don’t know; kill you maybe?”

“Come at me scrublords. I’m fucking ripped.”

Arin pressed a hand on Ross’s shoulder to push him back against the makeshift pillow from his jacket. Strips of Arin’s shirt wrapped around Ross’s torso, and blood slowly turned the otherwise white shirt red. 

Wade went to Ross’s side and slid his backpack off his shoulders. His fingertips rested at the binding of Ross’s bandages before he asked, “May I?”

Ross shrugged before huffing through his nose, “Go for it.”

Wade cut the thin strip of material away with a pair of scissors and examined the wound. It looked fresh, or at least only open for a few hours, as it started to scab over. However, the area was red and irritated, and Wade knew if it didn’t get fixed properly, infection was likely.

“Well, good news is, it stopped bleeding,” Wade said.  
“Oh thanks,” Ross said and rolled his eyes. “Thankfully I won’t bleed to death in this frozen wasteland,” his voice crescendoed, “unlike Danny and Mark!”

Arin grimaced. “You don’t know if they’re dead.” 

“Damn it, Arin, it was 30 against one. There’s no way-” Ross grunted and held his side.

Arin shook his head and stood up. He eyed what was left of Team D and sighed. “You guys here to help us pick up Mark and Danny?”

“Well we’re not here to deliver mail,” Jack responded.

Suzy spoke, “The last time I saw Mark, we were a few miles from the lake, but with everything that happened, he could be anywhere.” 

“Then I guess we better get looking.” Arin put his hand on Ross’s shoulder. The two stared each other down before Ross rested back on his elbows. “Did you guys put an ambulance on standby?”

Wade answered, “There’s one at the edge of the woods, two miles south from here.” 

“Good. I’m going to get Ross back home.”

Ross barked, “No way. Those bastards shot Barry. I want a fair share of revenge.”

Arin ignored him and acknowledged Suzy’s worried glance. “Suzy, I want to find Danny and Mark just as badly as you do, but Ross needs better medical attention. I don’t want any more team mates in critical care.”

“Then let me take him back. You’re a better shot than me anyway.”

“That’s not true.”

“Besides, they’re down a team leader, and you know this place better than I do.” She pulled Arin into a hug. “Find Danny and Mark. Bring them home.”

Arin hesitated before hugging her back. “I’ll do my best.”

After a minute’s pause, the two released each other. Arin stepped out from the tree’s shelter and looked back at Team D.

“You guys coming or are you just going to stand there?”

 

Mark must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next noise that woke him was banging on the front door. He shuffled up into a sitting position. His eyes narrowed as he heard Danny shush him from the other side of the room. He held his pistol in hand. Mark’s stomach dropped.

Voices speaking rapidly in a language Mark couldn’t understand came from the other side of the door. Someone peered in through the window, and Mark lay back on the couch.

Shit. 

He heard Danny’s pistol click as he mouthed ‘stay down.’ Mark nodded and held his breath. The door handle on the cabin turned.

Click.

Bang.

The first guy fell with a bullet wound between his eyebrows. The second reached for his gun and opened fire. Mark rolled off the couch and down onto the floor. He heard two more gunshots before the world deafened.

Did he dare look over the couch?

A hand gripped his shoulder. Mark nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked up as Danny pulled Mark to his feet. 

“Time to go. There will be more when they hear the gun shots.” 

Only now did Mark realize Danny wore his now dry uniform. Mark took a moment to appreciate the way his pants didn’t make it to Danny’s ankles. Freaking chicken legs. 

Danny tossed a shotgun over Mark’s way (he assumed they were borrowing it from the hunters) and headed toward the door. The cold wind hit Mark like a ton of bricks, but he ran after Danny. Angry shouts rang off in the distance. 

The two of them jumped over fallen logs, hid behind trees, and tried to keep a low profile. Eventually, Danny came to a halt on the other side of a snowbank. He grabbed Mark’s coat and pulled him down. The two tried to catch their breath. 

“You doing okay, Markimoo?”

Mark smirked. “Fantabulous.”

“Good.” Danny peaked over the snow before resting back in his spot. “I think we lost them.”

Mark opened his mouth to speak and blanched. 

Danny furrowed his eyebrows. “You gonna be sick dude?” 

Mark picked up the shotgun in his hands and aimed it straight at Danny. The latter respectively freaked out, until another gun pressed to the back of his skull.

“Shoot and I blow his brains,” a heavily accented man spoke.

Mark refused to lower his gun. He knew if he took the shot, he could kill the bastard, but if the attacker’s reflexes kicked in, Danny was done for. 

“Then we’re at a stalemate,” Mark responded. Danny looked over Mark’s shoulder and sucked in a breath. Mark heard more guns clicking behind him, and he cursed under his breath.

“Not from where I’m standing.” The man behind Danny laughed. He prodded the back of Danny’s head. “Stand.”

Danny did as he was told. Mark kept his shotgun trained on the man, more from instinct than the likelihood to shoot. Rapid gibberish came from behind him. The man pulled the pistol from Danny’s- Mark’s uniform- and threw it aside. Someone from Mark’s left yanked the shotgun from his hands and examined it. They said something, which made the man next to him laugh, and eyed up the two.

“Relax. I do not shoot men in the back,” the man behind Danny spoke. The other two laughed again, and Mark felt his stomach burn. “There is no sport. So here is what we do. You two get a ten second head start. Then we chase you. We figure since you have a hunter’s gun, you must like the sport, yes?”

Their eyes connected, and Mark wanted to lash out. The assailant still held the gun to Danny’s head. Mark wanted to smack the man’s arrogant grin off his face.

The man pushed Danny forward and lowered his gun. Danny walked to Mark’s side, turned to get a look at his attacker, and set his jaw.

“One.”

Danny grabbed Mark’s wrist and took off. They heard the man count louder, and two laughs echoed through the woods. Eventually Danny released Mark’s wrist, and the two of them ran side by side. 

“When did this become the Hunger Games?” Mark joked. Danny smiled but didn’t reply. Mark heard Jack’s witty retort in his mind, followed by some sort of pun from Wade, and a laugh from Bob. His heart ached as he thought of his team. 

If he knew that was the last time he’d see them-

Danny skid to a halt and grabbed Mark by the shirt collar. Mark yelped as Danny pulled him backward. He looked down at his feet and saw the ice from his previous day. Danny put his foot out to test the ice. Mark held his breath and waited for it to groan under Danny’s weight, but the ice held. He shifted more weight on it and thumped his other foot down.

“The cold from last night froze the lake harder. I think it should hold us.”

Mark eyed up the lake, and looked back at Danny. 

Danny continued, “Mark, the lake covers too much ground. If we try to go around it, they’ll catch us for sure.”

“And on the lake, we’re sitting ducks. There’s no cover anywhere, and you can’t run on ice.”

“I know how you feel about open water, but we don’t have much of a choice here.”

Something glistened in the corner of Mark’s eye.

Bang.

A high ringing sound pierced Mark’s ear. He watched Danny’s face drain of color. The world moved in slow motion and spun around him. His hands connected with Danny’s chest first, then his knees buckled, and Mark felt like he fell back into the lake. His skin iced over as his muscles locked. Danny screamed something, but he couldn’t hear anything.

Looks like he moved just in time. 

His debt was repaid.

 

Gunshots echoed through the woods. The impromptu team stopped in their tracks and listened. Only one shot, so it was a quick battle. A flock of crows cawed as they took flight.

The four of them quickened their pace. Gun shots out of hunting season meant someone disagreed in the woods, and that someone could very well be Mark or Danny. It sounded close.

Danny screaming Mark’s name sounded closer.

The three came into a clearing of some sort, with a lake splitting them and a crumbled mess on the other side. Jack pulled out his rifle and looked through the scope.

“It’s Mark and Danny all right.” His breath came out shaky. He looked through his scope to check for any sort of movement other than the two on the side of the lake. Wade would’ve ran out onto the lake if Arin didn’t hold him back.

“I need to get to them,” Wade half yelled. “Mark could be seriously hurt.”

“And the people who hurt him could be waiting,” Arin argued. 

Bob swallowed thickly. “No, they’re coming out of the clearing now.”

Danny pulled Mark closer to him as the three men chasing them emerged from the clearing. One held the shotgun Mark brought for protection, and the other held Danny’s pistol. 

The third crouched down and put all his weight on the balls of his feet. “Looks like our game is over.” He eyed Mark and smirked. “Your friend already lost.”

“Go jump in a fucking lake,” Danny hissed.

“Why don’t you do it for me?” The man put his Glock to Danny’s forehead.

Bang.

The man holding Mark’s shotgun fell.

The second man’s head flailed about as he raised the pistol. A second bang and he collapsed. 

The man in front of Danny looked over the lake. He caught the barrel of a rifle glisten in the sun.

“Go fuck yourself, you hairy part of a monkey’s arse cheek,” Jack yelled as he shot one last time. The shot missed the man’s head, but it did hit his throat. Danny flinched as blood from the man’s jugular splattered onto his face.

The forest rested into silence.

“Danny, you alright over there?” Arin called out. He tested the lake’s ability to hold him before walking as fast as he could across. Wade tightened his backpack’s straps and followed soon after. 

“I’m fine,” Danny called over. “Mark’s hurt pretty bad. Looks like he got shot through the chest. I think the bullet is clotting the blood, but I definitely hear sucking noises.”

After sliding a few times, Wade and Arin made it to the other side of the lake. Wade pulled his bag off his back and plopped it in the snow. Arin helped Danny remove the clothing obstructing their view of the bullet wound. 

Wade pulled out a piece of bandage with petroleum jelly and taped it to three sides of the bullet hole. “We have to get him out of here soon. If his lung collapsed, which I’m fairly certain it did, we don’t have much time. The paramedics should be waiting at the rendezvous point a few miles north from here.”

Arin and Danny threw one of Mark’s arms over their shoulders and earned a groan from Mark. Wade put both his hands on Mark’s cheeks and pulled an eyelid open.

“Stay with us buddy,” he urged as he examined Mark’s pupil dilation. He looked between Danny and Arin, and the four of them made their way back across the lake, like some sort of twisted version of skipping down a yellow bricked road.

 

A rhythmic beeping noise stirred Mark from the dark. He heard a machine inflating and deflating. Everything ached. A muffled noise called his name.

“... if you make it out of this.”

Jack. Mark wanted to open his eyes, but he lacked the strength. He heard Jack’s voice continue, soothing and soft, and it almost convinced his eyes to open.

“Mr. McLoughlin, time's up.”

No. Whoever that was needed to leave Jack alone. He wanted him there. He needed his voice to help him back. 

Jack sighed, and a chair scraped. 

No, Jack wait.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise. Do your best to wake up, ya smelly.”

 

The next few days Mark drifted in and out of consciousness. A collapsed lung, a mild case of hypothermia, a cracked rib, and a considerable amount of blood loss. He was in rough shape.

Mark heard Jack, Danny, Wade, and Bob come visit him the most. Occasionally, he’d hear Arin or Felix trying to pull him from the darkness, but none prevailed. 

He swore he heard his dad call his name twice already.

After swimming through the darkness longer than any other time, two hands cradled his left one. Warm callused fingers rubbed circles on his palm. 

“Please.”

Mark opened his eyes to white tile above him. He turned his eyes to the side, and took in a familiar friendly yet surprised face. Their lips hung open, as if they wanted to say something, but they waited for Mark to speak first.

Mark tested his tongue inside his mouth.

“M’Wadey.”

Wade burst into a fit of laughter and shook his head. 

“It’s about time you woke up. I thought you were on the waiting list for a halo.”

“I think I was too.”

Wade’s lips opened and closed several times. Mark watched his lips curl into a smirk.

“Good thing they didn’t. That would’ve been a grave mistake.”

“Shut up, Wade”

The two of them started chuckling, or at least what Mark called a laugh at the moment. Wade looked over his shoulder and out the observation window. He caught Bob’s eyes, and the two had a silent conversation. Jack sprung out of his chair next to Bob, and the two of them nearly tripped over each other to get in.

“Hey, Mark.” Bob’s gentle voice reached Mark’s ears first.

“Good to see you decided to join the living,” Jack added in.

Mark snuffed. “Please, the afterlife couldn’t handle me.”

“We can barely handle you.”

The four of them lazed about the room all day. They shared stories and filled in the gaps of silence with laughter. Jack took back the stale cookies on Mark’s bedside table, telling him the offer to eat them expired three days ago. Bob informed Mark Team G wrote a personalized note for him to get well soon. Mark chuckled as he read Ross’s note of ‘Get well soon or I’ll kill you.’ The flowers left by Molly lost petals on to the floor, and Wade commented about changing them. Bob asked whose idea it was to get lilies, to which Wade replied ‘they were a dead giveaway.’

If it wasn’t for the beeping monitors, it would have been normal.

 

Early one morning, a gentle knock woke Mark up. Danny walked into his room with his hands in his pockets and sat on the chair next to Mark.

“How are you feeling?”

“Not bad for someone who nearly died.”

“Yeah what was that all about?”

Mark thought for a moment. “Payback.”

“Dude, I took a bullet to the arm for you, not to the lung.” Danny shook his head and smiled. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter now. Just… thanks for saving me back there.”

“No problem.” Mark smiled. “I’d do it again if it wasn’t for the almost dying part.”

“Yeah, let’s not do that again.” 

Mark paused. “I want my uniform back.”

“I’ll give it back when the blood gets washed out of mine.”

“It’s way too small for you anyway. You looked like a 12 year old trying to look tall.”

“Well if you weren’t 5 inches shorter than me.”

“Ridiculous. I’m three feet of sass.” 

“Shorty.”

“Fight me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Want sneak peeks and to stalk my work more? Follow me on Tumblr at [neko-puff](neko-puff.tumblr.com) or just stalk me silently. No peer pressure from me.
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
